Furnace air preheater



y 1930- R. s. RILEY 1,759,916

FURNACE AIR PREHEATER Original Filed Aug- 17. 1925 2 Sheets-Sheet l HEATED IIIR U'ig. 1.

F LUE GIISES T0 sTncn COLD IIIR' FLUE GRSES FROM FURNACE WITNESSES INVENTOR I! O, ,f" I 1 R. Sanford Riley 1.2? M BY CQHW ATTORNEY y ,1 30- R. s. RILEY 1,759,916

FURNACE AIR PREHEATER Original Filed g- 17. 1925 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 WITNESSES fi-sanfvrd 11 77.56. M BY HTTORN Y Patented May 27, 1930 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE 4 ROBERT SANFORD RILEY, OF WORCESTER, MASSACHUSETTS, ASSIGNOR, BY MESNE AS- SIGNHENTS, TO THE AIR PREHEATER CORPORATION, OF NEW YORK, N. Y., A 003- i PORATION OF NEW YORK FURNACE AIR PREHEATER Application filed August 17, 1925, Serial No. 50,602. Renewed April 9, 1929.

nace gas and cold air ues that the drum as it rotates will cause a given passage in the drum to be connected successively and alternatel with first the furnace as flues and then wit the air fine. In sue a construction the gases and air pass through the'drum from one end to the other and make it necessar to employ two valve devices, one at each en in order to transmit the gases therethrough. There are many disadvantages inherent in such a construction because of the necessity for rotating such a massive body of heat exchange material and because two separate slidable valve devices are required to transmit the air and gases thereto; and it isaccordingly the main object of my invention to overcome such disadvantages and to provide apparatus of this type in which the heat exchange material may remain stationary and the gases be passed alternately through the passages of the casing by means of a single valve mechanism.

It is a further object of my invention to provide such a construction that the heat exchange material may be readily removed without interfering seriously with the opera I 1 passages in the casing and which is so contion of the device. 1

A further object is to provide av device which will not require any considerable amount of floorspace in the furnace room and which in general is simple in construction, economically operated and highly efficient in practical service.

It is a still further object of my invention to provide such a construction in which .the furnace gases may be by-passed around the heat exchange material when and as desired or the gases may be divided so that only part will pass through the heat exchange material.

Further objects inherent in the construction of my devicewill be apparent in view of the following disclosure, as will be understood by one skilled in the art.

Referring to the drawings which illustrate one embodiment of my invention Fig. 1 is a vertical section partly broken away showing the construction of this device;

Fig. 2 is a top plan view of the stationary cas ng which contains the heat exchange material, with the parts above removed therefrom;

Fig. 3 1s a top plan view of the bottom plate of the rotary valve mechanism;

' 1 1g. 4 is a view, partly broken away, of one form of heat exchange material which may be employed;

Figs. 5 and 6 are plan and elevational details partly broken away of the locking mechanism arranged to hold the by-pass valve in any desired position; and

Flg. 7 is a section of the valve casing on the line 7-7 of Fig. 1.

In accordance with my invention, I provide a single casing ada ted to carry heat exchange material which has baflies and partitions so arranged that gas may enter and depart from the same side of the casing, the partitions being so located as to divide the caslng into numerous passages through which the heated gas and cold air may pass independently of each other. In order to transmit heated and cold gases through the various passages in the casing alternately and suecessively, I provide a single valve mechanism which is preferably rotatable relative to the nected to the various flues as to cause such successive heat exchange.

Referring more particularly to the drawings, which illustrate one form in which my invention may be'constructed, I provide a casin 10 which may be substantially cylindrica in shape and, as illustrated, may be located with its axis in a vertical direction. This casing may be supported in any suitable manner such as upon the legs 11, shown partly broken away. As shown particularly in Figs. 1 and 2, the casing is divided into numerous passages or spaces formed by the central concentric walls 14 and spaced apart and located within the outer peripheral wall 16, and a number of radial partitions 17 which extend from the outer wall 16 to the inner wall 14 and are joined to the periphery of the concentric wall 15.

As will be observed by inspection of Fig. 1, the wall 15 extends only part way down from the top' towards the bottom of the casing, so that the space on each side thereof communicates around the lower end of the wall, between the radial partitions 17. The upper ends of each of these concentric walls 14, 15 and 16 are provided with flanges adapted to form bearing surfaces for the valve plate which rides thereon. The bottom of the casing is preferably closed by means of removable plates 20, each fitted in the space between the radial partitions 17 and the outer and inner walls 16 and 14. Each closure plate may be suitably locked in place as by means of the turn bolt 21 arranged to be operated from the outside of the casing to permit the plate to be withdrawn through the opening or to be brought into engagement with the inner rim 22 which forms a portion of the botom of the casing.

While various kinds of heat exchange material may be placed in the casing, such as metal balls, bars, rods and the like, I have illustrated in Fig. 4 one form which comprises ordinary iron chain links 24 of a suitable size which may be piled in the casing above the cover plate 20 to fill the available space on each side of partition 15. It will be understood that gases may pass readily through the links of the chain and that the metal which makes up these links will readily absorb heat from the hot gases and give it up easily tothe cold air which is later passed through the same space.

In order to transmit furnace gases to this casing, I provide a fluev 25 communicating with the furnace, and a flue 26 may likewise be employed to transfer the gases from the casing to the stack; likewise a flue 27 is arranged to carry air which has been heated in the casing to the tuyeres of the stoker.

In order to connect these various flues to the casing in such a manner as to effect the desired heat exchange, I provide a revoluble valve mechanism which is so constructed that it will connect the three flues and a cold air inlet simultaneousl with the passages in the casing. One suita le form of valve mechanism, as illustrated, comprises a valve plate 30, shown in Fig. 3, which is arranged to be mounted concentrically on the top of the drum 10 and to slidably rotate thereon. This plate, which is shown as made of three parts bolted together, has partition walls mounted thereon and suitably fastened to it, as shown in Figs. 1 and 7, to form two sets of passages 31 and 32 concentric with the plate. The parts are so arranged that the two passages 31 will communicate with substantially one half of the spaces 33 formed between the peripheral walls 15 and 16 of the heat exchange casing and the two passages 32 will communicate with the spaces 34 which are adjacent and concentric with the spaces 33 between the radial partitions 17 and the walls 14 and 15.

The other half of this valve has a smaller passage 35 concentric with the plate arranged to communicate with a lesser number of spaces 34 on the opposite half of the heat exchange drum. The plate and valve casing are cut away at 36 to form a space concentric with the space 35 which permits cold air to enter the spaces 33 in the drum through the openings 37. The center of the valve plate is provided with an opening 38 which com municates with the space 39 within the hollow wall 14 and these parts are so arranged that the gas entering the casing from the pipe 25 will pass through the space 39 and the opening 38 in the plate.

As shown in Figs. 1 and 7, the valve casing is formed by various walls suitably fastened to the upstanding flanges of the plate 30. These comprise a wall 40 extending along one half of the periphery of the valve plate 30 outside of openings 31 and 32 which joins with a circumferential portion of the partitions 41. The latter, in turn, connect with the central box-like structure 42 surmounting the opening 38 in the valve plate. A partition 43 extends above the baflle wall 15 and thus separates the spaces 31 and 32. A cover wall 44 extends over the tops of the various partitions and forms enclosed passages for the gases.

At the opposite side of this valve casing, I

provide a pipe 45 defining the passage 35. The upper endof this pipe 45 is bent so that it will be concentric with the drum and the valve casing, as illustrated in Fig. 1. Sur-' rounding the upper end of this pipe 45 is a further bottomless casing 48 suitably fixed above the rotatable valve. This casing 48 is substantially cylindrical in shape and opens at one side into the flue gas pipe 26. An opening 49 in the cover plate 44 connects the interior of casing 48 with the passage 31. An opening through the central portion of the top wall of the casing 48 is provided and the upper end portion of the pipe 45 passes upwardly through this opening and into a This construction It will be seen that the space 39 communicates with the space 34 in the casing through the space within the box 42 of the valve casing. One feature of my invention involves so arranging the parts that I may by-pass a part or all of the furnace gases around the heat exchange material. To this end, I provide an opening 52 through that wall of the box 42 which is adjacent the space 32 and another openin 53 in the top wall 44 of this valve casing which connects the pipe 25 directly with the casing 48 and the flue 26. A flap valve or damper 54 is so hung that it may be moved to close either one of the openings or it may be hung part way between them as illustrated in Fig. 1 to permit the gas to pass in both directions. While this dampermay be moved by various mechanisms, I have illustrated in Figs. 5 and 6 one simple form which comprises a shaft 56 on which the damper 54 is hung passing outwardly through the valve casing walls. A handle 57 on the outer end of the shaft is arranged to move the damper, and in order to lock the damper in any given position I provide an arcuate plate 58 on the outer casing wall which has a series of notches 59 so arran ed that a pin 60 slidably mounted in the han le may be held in any one of these notches 59 by means of the spring 61.

In order to rotate the valve casing, I may provide any suitable mechanism, such as illustrated, which comprises a shaft 64 con-.

nected to the valve plate 30 by a four armed spider 65 bolted thereto. This shaft which passes through the necessary bearings is arranged to be driven by any suitable power mechanism indicated by the worm and gear 66.

In order to make it easy to place the heat.

exchange material in the casing 10, I provide I a door 68 removably locked on one side of and thence, if the flap valve 54 closes the opening in the upper wall 44, through the valve casing and downwardly as shown by the arrows into the spaces 34 in approximately one half of the drum. The gas then turns around the under side of the bafile wall 15 upwardly through the passage 33 into the passage .31 in the valve casing and into the space within the casing 48, rom which it escapes through the pipe 26 to the stack. This general direction of passa e of the gases is true for allpositions o the valve plate and the rotation of the valve late merely causes the gases to pass successively around the drum in a manner to heat the material stored in the various spaces within the drum. At the same time, as shown b the arrows in Fig. 1, cold air passes through the cut away portion 36 of the valve late into the opening 37 through the top 0 the drum and into the vertical passage 33, thence downwardly around the bafile plate 15 and up -through the space 34 through the space 35 and into the pipe 45, from which it escapes into the heated'air pipe 27 and is trans mitted to the furnace stoker or as desired. By shifting the damper 54 one may by-pass a part or all of the furnace gases and cause them to go directly from the uptake flue 25 to the outtake flue 26 without going through the heat exchange material.

When it is desired to clean the heat exchange material, it is merely necessary to remove the cover plate 20 located in the'bottom of any one of the spaces between the radial walls 17 and'permit the pieces of heat exchange material to drop out of the casing. These may then be cleaned and reinserted either through the bottom plate or preferably by dropping them through the opening 37 and through the opening in the pipe 45 covered by the plate 68. In actual operation, the valve mechanism is rotated very slowly in one direction so that the furnace gases will pass successively into the various compartments of the heat exchange casing and heat the material therein. The rate is such as to obtain the maximum efficiency in the heat exchange operation. It will be noted that, as shown in Fig. 3, a part of the valve plate 30 has been left blank at the portions 69 and 70 so as to prevent any short-circuiting of the furnace gases and the cold air. As the spaces 31 and 32 of the valve plate 30 revolve over the various boxes of heat exchange material, the air passages 35 and 36 follow along thereafter and cause the cold air to pass through the material which has been preheated and thus absorb the heat therefrom.

It will be obvious that various changes may be made in this construction within the scope of my invention and the claims appended hereto and the advantages inherent in this simplified construction will be readily apparent to one skilled in the art.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

1. A heat exchange apparatus comprising a casing having partitions'forming passages therein both ends of which open at one end of the casing, heat exchange material within said passages, and a single rotatable valve member having walls defining passages therein arranged to communicate successively with said passages to transmit heated and cold gases through said casing to effect a heat exchange therebetween.

2. A heat exchange apparatus comprising a stationary casing having separated passages therein, heat exchange material in said passages, rotatable valve mechanism effective to transmit heated and cold gases successively and alternately to the heat exchange material in said passages and cause a heat transfer therebetween, and means for bypassing a part or all of the gases around the heat exchange material.

3. A heat exchange apparatus comprising a casing having openin s through its top and bottom portions, wal s forming passages commu'nicating with the openings, heat exchang material in said passages, a removablenclosure for the opening at one end of each passage permitting removal of said material, and a single rotatable valve mechanism cooperating with the casing which is effective to transmit heated and cold gases alternately and successively to the passages in order toefiect a heat exchange therebetween.

4. A heat exchange apparatus comprising a casing having openings at opposite ends, closing means for the openings at one end of the casing, partitions within the casing forming passages therein, heat exchange material within said passages and removable through the closed ends of the openings, and a'single rotatable valve mechanism eii'ective to transmit heated and cold gases successively to the open ends of the passages to cause a heat exchange between the gases.

5. A heat exchange apparatus comprising a cylindrically shaped drum having radial partitions, and a bafile at one end arranged to form separated passages both ends of which open at one end of the drum, heat exchange material in the passages, and means forming flue connections with the drum, said drum and means being relatively rotatable and so arranged that heated and cold gases may be passed alternately and successively through the passages to effect a heat exchange therebetween.

6. A heat exchange apparatus comprising a cylindrically shaped drum having radial partitions and a concentric baflle arranged to form passages both ends of which open at one end of the drum, heat exchange material within said passages, a rotatable valve mechanism having passages cooperating with the drum passages and arranged to transmit heated and cold gases alternately and successively to the passages in said drum to effect a heat exchange between the gases, and means to rotate the valve.

7. A heat exchange apparatus comprising a stationary casing having partitions forming a series of passages both ends of which open at the top of the casing, heat exchange material in said passages, stationary means for admitting heated and cold gases and a valve mechanism slidably and rotatably mounted on the casing and arranged to connect the heated and cold gas supplies alternately and successively with the passages to effect a heat exchange between the gases.

8. A heat exchange apparatus comprising a cylindrical drum havin its axis arranged vertically, radial partitions and walls arranged to form passages within the drum communicating at both ends with openings through the top wall of the drum, heat exchange material in the passages, means for admitting heated and cold gases, and a rotatable valve casing slidably and rotatably mounted on the top of the drum which has passages therethrough and is arranged to transmit the heated and cold gases alternately and successively through the different passages of the drum to efiect a heat exchange therein.

9. A heat exchange apparatus comprising a cylindrical casing having radial partitions therein, a baflle wall concentric with the outer wall and forming with said partitions a series of U-shaped passages opening at one end of the casing, heat exchange material in the passages, heated and cold gas supplies, and

means including a rotatable valve mechanism having pipes communicating with the ends of the passages in the casing for connecting the heated and cold gas supplies alternately and successively with the passages.

10. heat exchange apparatus comprising a stationary casing having separated passages therein, heat exchange material in. said passages, rotatable valve mechanism effective to transmit heated and cold gases successively and alternately to the heat exchange material in said passages and cause a heat transfer therebetween, and a valve controlled by-pass. for regulatin the amount of heated gases admitted to t e heat exchange material.

11. heat exchange apparatus comprising a stationary casing havingpassag'es there through, heat exchange material in said passages, means for admitting heated and cold gases to the casing, and a sin le valve mechanism positioned at one end 0 the casing and communicating with said admission means for transmitting the heated and cold gases to and away from successive passages alternately. 12. A heat exchange ap aratus comprismg a stationary casing aving passages therethrough, heat exchange material in said passages, a cold gas inlet, a cold gas outlet, a heated gas inlet, a heated gas outlet, and a valve devlce positioned at one end of the casing successively communicating said passages with said cold gas inlet and outlet, and with said heated gas inlet and outlet.

Signed at Worcester, Massachusetts, this- 13th day ofAugust, 1925. a

. R. SANFORD RILEY. 

